The activities of this project comprise three main functions: 1) systematic study of certain groups of parasitic arthropods. The foremost tool in systematic studies, the scanning electron microscope, has greatly aided in elucidating taxonomic concepts in acarines actually or potentially involved in transmission of disease agents. 2) Final editing and storage of all RML and NAMRU-3 (Cario) tick data in the Smithsonian data retrieval system; 3) colonization of medically important arthropod vectors. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Keirans, J.E., Hoogstraal, H., and Clifford, C.M.: Ornithodoros (Proknekalia) vansomereni, new subgenus and new species (Acarina: Ixodoidea: Argasidae), a swallow nest parasite in Kenya. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 70: 221-227, 1977. Easton, E.R., Keirans, J.E., Gresbrink, R.A., and Clifford, C.M.: The distribution in Oregon of Ixodes pacificus, Dermacentor andersoni, and Dermacentor occidentalis with a note on Dermacentor variabilis (Acarina: Ixodidae). J. Med. Entomol. 13: 501-506, 1977.